


Cut twice, measure later

by inappropriatefangirlneeds



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Fighting, Introspection, M/M, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:52:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12294681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inappropriatefangirlneeds/pseuds/inappropriatefangirlneeds
Summary: Set in some night after Oswald Cobblepot demanded that Victor Zsasz takes him to the warehouse to proof that his merchandise he claims to be there is still there ("They Who Hide Behind Masks" 4x03). Victor wanders to the edge of Gotham, thinking of old memories and some recent ones, such as him and Alfred Pennyworth having each other at gunpoint. He pays the other man an unannounced visit.





	Cut twice, measure later

It wasn’t what he had been expecting when he made his way to the edges of Gotham, away from ice blocks and smog. Or maybe it was what he was expecting? Initially he had just followed an impulse.  Zsasz didn’t have any issues with living in the city, the canyons of concrete had their perks for his work but he had to admit the air out here was much nicer than the one stuck between tall buildings. It reminded him of days. Working for the bird was a strain lately. If his boss was so unwilling to relax he did not plan to follow suit. Carmine had kept him close on some days too, but never as close as his chickens. He had never watched him, never controlled him, always trusted him to be the fox not flight and helpless bird. Although Carmine must have known as much as him that his feathered friends were neither that flight nor that helpless. Victor has often wondered what the old man found in the chickens and why he always returned reassured and strengthened after visiting them. A hawk or falcon, he would have understood that, but chickens? What was it with mob bosses and birds?  
One night after Victor had returned to Falcone from a job well done he had strolled out there himself and watched them. No cackling filled the henhouse just contempt cooing and gentle rustling of feathers. It was soothing but he also had to think of how easily he could break all their necks. That was until he heard a scratching sound and saw a paw and nose crafting themselves a way inside. Not long and the hens noticed too. A cacophony that could make your ears bleed spread and a hell of claws, beaks and feathers broke loose.  Almost the same kind of ferocity he saw and cherished in Oswald when he beat someone to death with his lank figure. Victor liked how disheveled the frantic movement made him look afterwards. In comparison Carmine had always been a stature, his expressions rarely revealed anything when he killed. Disciplined and composed. Not even through all the tense minutes it took him too wrap his hands around a neck and squeeze. His eyes barely changed while they watched how life faded out of another pair. Just with Fish´s pet there was some sorrow in his features, but barely so.  Victor never quite figured out how much of it was his personality and how much the face he showed the world. The noble, unequivocal, honourable head of the mob. A facade of refinement. Victor was quite sure though if Falcone had wanted he could have ended it quicker with Liza. Had he used all his strength she might have died twice as fast. It would have exhausted him thought, made him struggle a bit but let end hers faster. Victor was not always let in on Carmine´s motives but his deeds granted that he felt being at the right place on his side. There was also something behind this facade that granted this, just until he could not see it anymore. The betrayal of Fish had weighed heavy on the man. Victor had basically begged him to just let him go out and deal with things like so many times before but in the end, he had to respect the man´s wishes and choices.

He did the same with Oswald. Still respected him and his ambitions. Although he felt his enjoyment lessen. He has always had an eye on the slender man. To some Oswald´s streak for violence was visible before he got handed baseball bats. Scheming on the other hand never was of interest for Victor so he had to admit that he hadn´t seen what came. None of it, king, mayor, patron of the city. When Falcone showed his violence, it usually was too late or a warning better heeded, with Oswald that was different now. He had turned his violence into a promise for a quite different audience. A promise of safety, Oswald shallowly hid the deed but loudly spread its message to the public.   
Zsasz wasn´t disappointed that Cobblepot had followed Falcone. The gaze Oswald gave him when ordering to kill for him granted him an additional chill. This sensation running over his spine alone had made him feel to be in the right place on his side as well. Their eyes always crossed when Oswald turned away from the doomed person. An intimate shared moment. It also had been good times being in the streets killing for him, even reinforcing the licenses had it´s fun parts. Victor felt even more fondness when recalling the night, they came after Loeb. A night as starless, just as the one right now. They had barely discussed anything before, Os just had made sure he knew the rough basics of the plan and still they aligned perfectly. Things worked well. They usually did when Oswald gave an order for him to carry out. Granted all in all he wasn´t on top of his game. Not everything worked as smooth as it had with Loeb. There had been some miscues. Jim Gordon being just one of them and irritatingly being a repeated one. Victor didn’t know why he cared about Jim. He should have been just another job. By all means Victor cared about the missions he could not complete. They bothered him, were a nagging thought that made his skin itch. No scratch could be deep enough to bring relieve. Oswald not trusting his work anymore was another nuisance on top of that. Even worse, it was an unfair nuisance. The merchandise had been in the warehouse just as he had told him. Penguin would not have needed his eyes to convince himself of that only his ears. Why was he questioning his work like that now? Despite every miscue he doubted that he gave Oswald enough reason to do so. His armes were testimony that success prevailed. It might not be perfect work what he did but it was still good work. Work that should be trusted.

Victor found himself thinking of Ivy while he walked through the darkness trying to avoid stumbling over the tree´s roots. He understood her being so irritated lately better now. Girl needed a thicker skin though. Fast. And half a brain. That perfume around her neck still had him shiver. Victor felt repelled and at unease at the thought of what it could force _him_ to do. Simultaneously he was drawn to its power. No doubt that he´d always prefer a more hands on approach himself but he really wanted to see what the perfume could do to a person. He was eager to witness it work when pushed to its limits. Was there any gruesome act this girl couldn´t order a person to commit to someone else or themselves? Before he didn´t have some protection or remedy in his hands he would refrain from planting ideas in Ivy´s head but the possibilities kept him awake some nights. Made his dreams more exciting, yet often were not enough to chase away the feelings of growing aggravation he now connected to Oswald.  There was something else that could overshadow them. Something he thought of more often when going to sleep lately. A challenge resolved far too fast. 

Victor had always known it. It was his job after all to assess a possible threat and enemy but witnessing it up so close was something else. It was the look of a predator, one of the dangerous kind, ready to pull the trigger and send his brain scattering over the polished floor. Victor was sure the butler would not even bat an eyelash over his sunken in and bloody head. Not when it was what he had to do. This adamant readiness had made this standoff well worth wile but something had excited him even more. The slight hint of fear that Alfred Pennyworth had radiated. Fear was nothing special, he knew it inside out but this time it told him Alfred deemed him a threat, but one you´d respect. Something equal. This recognition was what made him smile when lowering his gun. It made his smile even bigger when Alfred´s nod told him the man had his head at least as much in the game. He didn´t just leave and evacuate after the dangerous situation, dismissing him, instead he gave their encounter meaning. Their situations were far from equal though. Alfred´s business was protection, his own was destruction. An advantage on his side.

When coming near Wayne Manor Zsasz started to second guess his assessment. Alfred was doing a poor job at protection, maybe he overestimated an old man´s vigour in a desperate situation. The weak spot was quickly taken advantage off. Without setting off the alarm he opened the window. Inside Victor pushed away the flowing curtains to close it again and avoid suspicions. Richness and luxuries were what he found himself standing in, he took a moment to properly perceive his surroundings. A slight creak told him he had made a mistake. The door behind him opened.  
His own gun drawn he turned around and looked into a barrel. Alfred Pennyworth´s finger on the trigger. His own expression must have been one of confusion.

„ _We´ve had so many windows been broken I thought I´d rather just leave open a specific one than swipe some more broken glass_.“  
  
That explained why he had been found so fast, of course Alfred would react as soon someone stepped into his trap. There must be another kind of alarm system that he had overlooked while paying attention to the regular one.

Victor made a few steps to the left, gaze and gun following him.

„ _Why are you here?_ “

Some more steps. „ _Relax. There is no contract.”_    If there had been Alfred would have been well advised to shoot him at sight.

Alfred reacted to his declaration with a step forward and renewal of his question. Why was he here indeed? 

„ _You .. impressed me_.“

Before his lips had closed he had fired a shot at the vase in the cupboard behind his opponent. The shards of porcelain flying in all directions made Pennyworth wince. Victor still ducked to avoid a possible shot and rolled forward just to rise right before the other man. His quick action made it easy to disarm Alfred. The weapon half slid under the sofa.  His own was back in his holster and he just used his hands to deflect the punch from Alfred. A boxer, surely. Zsasz let himself fall into the dance oft that sport. He refrained from putting his feet to better use, while defending himself. He even deliberately lowered his guard to allow Alfred to score some points after a while. It made the hit side of his face sting and ache. A particularly hard hit into his stomach made him second guess his recklessness.  Alfred was onto him, he had noticed that he wasn´t putting himself in the fight completely. He however did and once he had Victor´s back up against a hard wall frustration and confusion turned his voice into a growl „ _Look, mate I don´t know what_ “   
The following was cut off and followed by a quick glance down.  
What Alfred had felt pressing against his thigh clearly was visible under the tight fabric of his pants. Not lessening his grip Alfred looked him straight in the eye. “ _Is_ that _why you´re here_?”  
A little push of his hips forward replaced an answer.

“ _Who, would have guessed_ ” There might have been a hint of amusement in his Alfred´s voice. The grip on him got loosened slightly but Alfred kept leaning on him with all his weight.  
His voice back to a more serious tone, he asked: “ _You will leave once we got rid of your little problem here?”_  
Zsasz tried to put all the sincerity he could muster in the answered “ _Yes_.” He intended to do so and Alfred seemed to believe him.   
  
“ _So how´d you fancy this to happen, given the circumstances you can´t expect me to bite the pillow, can´t you_ ”  
  
Zsasz was not sure he had expected anything from this night. When his feet had brought him out here they seemed to know he´d be content with everything they´d get him into. A good fight maybe, one that left him to return with wounds to lick and bruises colouring his skin. He had known that attempting to just watch Alfred and leave unseen would be a challenge, maybe he should have tried harder. Having a target in sight, watching from afar how they assumed nothing before they hit the ground has always brought him joy, though not as much as the actual violence.

Numbness started to spread over the side of his face where he had let Alfred land a proper hit. The thought of returning the favour flashed through his mind. Making the lingering fear return in the other man´s face, the rush of danger suited his features. Have the other fighter bent over the sturdy, mahogany table was a tempting picture but he´d surely return home with more than a few bruises then. Moreover, the quick compliance had him intrigued.

Zsasz wiggled a hand free of Alfred´s grip, trying to make sure he moved slow enough not to renew any suspicions. He was being watched cautiously while moving his hand into the back pocket of his pants. Silently he handed the package of condoms over to Alfred.

“ _Aright_ ”, Alfred took and shoved them into his pockets while leaning back a bit and looking at him with an unreadable expression. His breathing was much more even than it should be after their fight.  
A couple of seconds passed until Alfred spoke again, with a challenging raise of his eyebrows.

 “ _Well, then .. undress_.” 

Alfred had left him barely enough room to move out of his clothes. Victor slowly unfastened the buckles of the holster and threw his weapon to the floor. Out of both their reach. He had to strain his back to get out of his shirt. Zsasz was sure that he had meant “undress completely”, as in let me see that you have no other weapons on you. He complied.  
He´s never been self conscious, or afraid of rejection but once he was standing there naked under the butler´s gaze he could understand those who were. With every second passing Victor was growing more impatient. Alfred just stood there calm as the sea after a storm while he simmered in his obvious arousal. Had the other just faked his agreement?  
 “ _Won´t you?_ ” Not sure if it would cross some line to undress Alfred he gestured over the still buttoned clothing on his chest.  
Alfred inhaled and the following “ _Sure._ ” was just on the very edge of cocky. Victor watched how Alfred began to open his waistcoat with stead hands. They were broad with thick fingers but not without a certain graciousness. The heavy gold ring on his little finger matched their proportions. It seemed Alfred had all the time while he got rid of the cuff links and rolled up the sleeves messily. The loosened tie joined the waistcoat on the floor. Part of Victor registered some surprise that the butler would discard his attire carelessly like that. Tilting his head a little Alfred started to open his dress shirt. With every button, more and more of the salt and pepper on his chest peaked through. Zsasz felt himself slowly align with the given pace, just like he had during their fight. It was one button after another. Each one that was undone revealed more. Then, after the last one Alfred stood before him shirtless, broad chest bared and so taut it seemed the years only made the man more sturdy.

“ _Hot damn._ ” Give credit where it´s due. Zsasz liked what he saw, even more so when he thought he could catch a momentarily crack in the composure of the other after his compliment. Making sure to let his smile come close to creepy he closed some distance in between them. In tune with the slow pace he let his hand run over the skin bared before him. It was like testing the waters, you could jump right into the sea if you wished but you´d deny yourself the sight of having the sea jump at you.  
Pennyworth was still acting aloof and unimpressed. Barely acknowledging the touch, he opened his belt buckle.  “ _I assume we won´t be needing lube_?”  
  
There was enough question in his voice that told Victor a correction of the assumption would have been readily accepted but he shook his head. Before he´d finished the motion, he found himself facing the wall. The sudden speed had him perplexed. His right arm getting twisted on his back was unexpected, but not an unpleasant surprise. Alfred used the uncomfortable strain to push him further into the wall. He let him, even dug his face deeper into the wallpaper once he felt Alfred´s lips on his neck. The man mouthed kisses down to his shoulder brash enough that you couldn´t call them tender. Licks followed. Intentional or not Alfred had chosen the side that made Victor turn his face in a way that his injured side scraped over the rough surface. His free hand came up to grip on the wall in vain when he felt teeth sinking into his neck. _Fuck_.  Alfred made the sting count, even twisted his arm a bit more. Involuntarily Victor rose a bit on his tip toes to counter the strain.   
A hand sliding down his side and resting on his hip made him lower himself on his whole soles again.

The kisses continued down his spine while the hand wandered to wrap under his buttock and squeeze. It disappeared just to reappear slick and moving further. A finger spread the spit over his entrance before pushing in. A second followed, too soon to be comfortable. He liked it. It was more like scouting the terrain than proper preparation. Once they retreated he longed for more.   
  
Alfred let go of his twisted arm just to bend it upwards and put his palm on the wall mirroring his other one. A boot kicking against his ankles made him cherish the possibility to prop himself on the wall when his legs spread apart. Alfred let his hand slide down along his arm slowly. Palm and Fingertips brushing over all his marks. Once it reached the elbow it left his skin, just to return on his hip a moment later. Forehead resting against the wall Victor tried to brace himself but the attempt was in vain. Alfred entered him in one swift motion. The burn going over into a sting and back again. Alfred´s cock pushed all the air out of him and he didn´t get any time to regain it. He was already out and shoving back in. The relentless pace made Victor grimace against the wall. He wasn´t used to needing that long to adjust. The friction seemed to rip him apart for a moment. Trying to concentrate Zsasz bit his lip. The small sting drawing his focus away from the pain was making it easier to wait for the point where the sharp bite of the pain ebbed and made room for another feeling.   
He was so full, over and over again.  Alfred could push him to his limits. Maybe even over them if Alfred wanted, or if he asked him.  
Moving his head a bit to ease the pressure on his hurt side Victor noticed how close they were. He smelled the other man´s sweat, felt coarse chest hair scraping over his back, shivered when his breath brushed past his ear. To his satisfaction he heard how it had become laboured. Closing his eyes Zsasz allowed himself to wallow in those sensations. His stomach turned every time Alfred hit the right spot and his body still protested every moment he was stretched completely. Just the right cocktail of pain and pleasure, with some elusive intimacy mixed in. A moment to get lost in it.

Hearing his own heavy breathing brought him back in the situation. Mouth gaping open he was more hanging against the wall than standing, his cock still being neglected. As overwhelming as it had been before, he lacked some friction now. He wanted to change that but Alfred caught his arm bringing it back up. He locked it against the wall, fingers digging into his wrist. Zsasz impulse to fight it ebbed away as Alfred wrapped his other hand around his cock. He barely moved it but just the sensation of this did a lot for him.

Victor felt how close he was getting. All the pressure building up. Alfred showed no signs of stopping to fuck him but he increased the movement of his hand on his cock. His grip got stronger as well, almost enough to be painful. Part of Victor wished he would squeeze down harder while the release was building up.  
It didn´t take much more to send him over the edge. His voice broke when he moaned into the wall.  He couldn´t do anything else than hang against it while Alfred continued to thrust roughly. He was all gentleman though, it did not take much more until his hoarse voice echoed thought the room. Victor though he had even heard him curse under his breath. It was a beautiful sound.

For a placid, almost tranquil moment Alfred´s weight was leaning against his back and he felt the other man´s heartbeat slowing down. Much like his own.  
  
It did not last long. Alfred pulled out just to lean back and push him into the wall once more. There was a bruising grip on his upper arm and a voice on his ear so dark and husky he rarely had heard anything like it.

„ _This is not going to repeat itself here, you´re going to stay clear of the Manor and if I see you near Bruce you´ll have made your last bloody breath_.“

„ _Understood_ “

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think!


End file.
